Penn State

Shaking out cobwebs after game at Purdue

By NEIL RUDEL

Special to The Sentinel

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- There was highly questionable coaching strategy in the fourth quarter of Penn State's 35-31 victory over the Boilermakers, and it didn't involve James Franklin.

In fact, Thursday night, Franklin was Vince Lombardi compared with Purdue's Jeff Brohm.

After a back-and-forth game with numerous highlights and mistakes that you'd expect in a season opener, Purdue found itself up 31-28 with 6:27 remaining before a raucous crowd at Ross-Ade Stadium.

The Boilermaker defense had presented the lead, thanks to Sean Clifford's almost unforgiveable interception that Chris Jefferson returned 72 yards for a touchdown.

To boot, Purdue -- not known for its defense -- then forced two straight Penn State punts.

Of the next two series -- 14 plays -- Purdue rushed the football a grand total of once. On the first series, which started with 6:27 remaining, Aiden O'Connell attempted eight straight passes. Eight.

Penn State took over with 4:50 left, ran three plays and punted.

Purdue's offense came back out, threw three straight passes, rushed once, attempted two more passes and punted again.

That gave Clifford -- the good Clifford -- possession with 2:22 left, and he promptly moved the Lions 80 yards in eight plays, going 6-of-7 for 72 yards and capping the drive with a feathered 10-yard touchdown pass to Keyvone Lee with 57 seconds remaining.

Give Brohm an assist for providing Penn State with plenty of time. Franklin didn't even have to use a second-half timeout.

Penn State defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher admitted Purdue's strategy was a surprise.

"Definitely in the fourth quarter when they were up, I think it was like six minutes on the clock, I thought they would run the ball a little bit more," he said. "But they didn't, and that's that."

It was more of a topic in the Purdue camp -- to the point that Brohm apologized to Boilermakers' fans, saying, "Our fans were outstanding. They were out in full force, especially the students. Very thankful for them doing their part. We apologized we weren't able to get it done."

Purdue committed nine penalties for 93 yards, including a couple in the fourth quarter that blunted threats.

"Every loss hurts," he said. "We had the game where we wanted it, and we had a chance to seal the game with one more first down, and the game's over."

Brohm, in his sixth year at Purdue, admitted he put too much pressure on quarterback Aiden O'Connell, who threw 58 passes.

"We have to have better balance," he said.

He won't get an argument from the 57,307 in attendance.

Game notes:

• Penn State lost freshman linebacker Abdul Carter to a targeting penalty in the second quarter after he hit Purdue's Tyrone Tracy on a low tackle attempt. He was ejected and will sit the first half of next week's game with Ohio U.

Franklin disagreed with the call.

"There's targeting when a guy leads with the head," he said. "(In Carter's case), there's no way to keep your head up, if you're going to match pad level to pad level. I don't think there was malicious intent."

The personal foul on Purdue's Lawrence Johnson, who hit Sean Clifford's left knee low while in the pocket, was more egregious. It didn't come with an ejection.

• Franklin wasn't pleased with his offensive line, and sent a message to returning starting right tackle Caeden Wallace by replacing him in the fourth quarter with Bryce Effner.

"Caeden has got some things to work on," he said.

Overall, Franklin said, "The line battled but too many pressures, too many sacks, too many runs where the running back didn't get a chance to get going and make the safety miss."

• A dozen NFL teams were on hand, and Joey Porter Jr., son of the former Pittsburgh Steeler, was one of the players being observed.

Porter showed he can be a sure tackler, with eight solo stops, and recovered a fumble. He broke up three passes, and he also dropped a Pick-6 and was called for pass interference.

"I definitely feel like I left some plays out there," he said.

• Clifford only ran five times for 11 yards, including a 2-yard sneak for the Lions' second touchdown. In the past, he was apt to scramble more often.

"I just see myself staying in the pocket more," he said. "I have a lot of trust in the guys up front."

• The Lions improved to 16-14 in Big Ten openers -- kind of surprising, given that they haven't opened with Michigan or Ohio State very often (five times total) -- and 18-12 in conference road openers.

• Play of the game: Sean Clifford hit Keyvone Lee with a 10-yard touchdown pass with 57 seconds remaining to set the final score.

• Offensive player of the game: Penn State receiver Mitchell Tinsley caught seven passes for 84 yards and one touchdown.

• Defensive player of the game: Porter Jr. made a team-high eight tackles, broke up three passes and recovered a fumble.

• Most deceiving statistic: The Boilers racked up 456 yards -- 356 through the air.

• Best run: How about Clifford's 2-yard quarterback sneak out of full-house backfield that gave the Lions a 14-10 lead?

• Worst pass: Clifford had Tinsley wide open over the middle and overshot him. Purdue safety Chris Jefferson intercepted and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown that put the Boilermakers up 31-28 with 8:29 remaining.

• Catch it, will ya: Porter missed a Pick-6 in the first quarter -- he could have walked in -- and Purdue receiver TJ Sheffield pulled it in for an 11-yard catch to the Boiler 23. Lambert-Smith dropped two passes and Parker Washington dropped one.

• Best tackle: PSU corner Johnny Dixon came on a blitz sacked O'Connell to pin Purdue back on its final possession.

• Best block: Kaytron Allen helped pave Penn State's first touchdown, a 12-yarder from Clifford to Mitchell Tinsley.

• Best call: On fourth-and-2 from the Purdue 29, the PSU staff nixed a long field-goal attempt and instead had Clifford dump off a 12-yard pass in the flat to an open Devyn Ford.

• Unsung hero: On third-and-2, PSU safety Zakee Wheatley stripped Sheffield at the Lions' 22 -- after Sheffield had picked up a first down -- and Porter recovered with 30 seconds left in the second quarter, keeping Penn State's lead at 14-10.

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Rudel covers Penn State from the Altoona Mirror.